I still perfectly remember the exact moment before I went to Equestria, and I know I always will.

What I could never understand was why I remembered it. Certainly, it would have been an otherwise banal moment, if not for what directly followed it. Perhaps it was a slight shift in the air, or an indistinguishable sound. However, no matter how many times I analysed the moment in my mind, I could never discover the reason for why it is so clear.

Whatever the cause, I can recall everything—even the most insignificant of details—as if I were just there. I remember the weariness in my limbs from a particularly gruelling day at my job as a mechanical engineer, the book I was reading that had a slight crease at one corner, to even the faint ticking of the clock above the television and how I synchronised it with the drumming of my fingers against the arm of the chair I was sitting on.

Sometimes, when I shut my eyes, the memory is so real to me that I feel that all I need to do is open my eyes and I’ll be back home again. However, every time that I do, I awaken only to find that I am still stranded in this twisted world, with no hope that I could ever return home.

*****

One moment I was in my living room reading a book, and the next I was sprawled before a white horse which appeared to have both a horn and wings. It was not these features, or even her mane that appeared to blow on an ethereal wind, that startled me. Rather, it was that she was looking back at me with magenta eyes that sparkled with intelligence and an expression that quickly switched from shock to a reassuring smile as soon as she realised I was watching her.

Certainly if that left me startled, I was rendered practically comatose when she spoke to me in a motherly tone that promised understanding and kindness.

After more than a few moments where I was understandably unresponsive, the white horse, who introduced herself as Princess Celestia, managed to coax enough of a response out of me to enlighten me on my current situation.

She explained that she had been experimenting with portals, her reasoning behind it having something to do with the possibility of a new form of transportation for civilians. At her insistence that magic was real, it took another few minutes and a demonstration to calm me down enough to continue on with her explanation. However, something had gone awry and brought me to Equestria—the land she claimed to rule—a seemingly infinitesimal chance that it was I who was chosen.

She promised and gave her assurance that she would make every attempt in her power to return me to Earth. In exchange, she required for me to make a promise of my own: to remain in a private suite at the castle, as to not provoke panic amongst her subjects. Despite my solitude to be necessary in the name of the public good, I could not deny that I was disappointed that I would be unable to see all that the new world had to offer, all the sights and experiences that would be alien to me.

Quickly, she bade the two guards stationed at the door to enter. When they first caught sight of me, I could see the panic that engulfed them for a split second before their military training reasserted itself. Despite this, their stances spoke volumes of how suspicious they were of me, forcing Celestia to spend a few moments reassuring them of my trustworthiness, resulting in a noticeable relaxation of both of their postures.

From here, Celestia and I—along with the two guards—stealthily made our way through the enormous empty corridors of the castle, never once encountering another living soul. I later found out that I arrived in the middle of the night and most of the staff had long since retreated to the servants’ quarters to sleep.

Eventually, we arrived at our destination, spacious suite that would house me for the remainder of my stay. It was here that the princess made the two guards swear an oath on the ‘Eternal Sun’ that they would not reveal what had transpired that night.

The next two weeks of my life were spent entirely in those suites, which whilst sizeable, grew more and more claustrophobic as the days wore on. To combat my boredom I had my two guards, the same as those that accompanied me on my very first night in Equestria, bring me a constant stream of books from the Royal Library. It was from these that I attempted to glean any knowledge that I could about the world that I had found myself in.

Dispersed in-between my scholarly pursuits were moments of intense fear and homesickness as I thought about my family and the worry that they must have been experiencing. Though I tried to ignore my emotions by throwing myself even harder into my reading, I could only hold them off for so long until they broke through from my control. Whenever this happened all I could do was wait for them to pass, though that was hardly any comfort to me as my families faces flashed through my mind and the hollowness of the reassurances given to me suddenly became so obvious.

Occasionally, Celestia herself visited, and we would talk for a short time, though the topics themselves always seemed to focus entirely on my life and humanity, with Celestia always steering the conversation away from herself at the first opportunity. Sometimes, I would ask for her to provide context or clarification on something I had read about, and in those cases she normally seemed happy to answer.

The only time where I provoked a reaction other than her motherly and accommodating cheerfulness was when I asked her about why she was only a princess rather than a queen. Suddenly, her serene state seemed to drain away, and her facial expression morphed into one of sorrow. After that, I couldn’t provoke much of a response from her, and she departed shortly thereafter. I didn’t see her again until she had to tell me the bad news.

Despite all of her attempts to send me home, it was all in vain. Celestia explained that due to the near infinity of the universe, it was statistically impossible for her to replicate the exact conditions that would open a portal back to my home world and whilst she had tried every conceivable means to circumvent this, nothing proved successful. If nothing else it definitely appeared that she had been working hard, the dark rings under her eyes that were clearly visible despite her coat was evidence enough.

Naturally, I was shocked by this information. For the next week, I was barely able to function, reduced to a pathetic wreck that I was ashamed of even as I allowed it to happen. In my mind, I continually went over everything that I had lost, and the pain that my parents and friends would undoubtedly experience over my unexplainable disappearance.

To make matters worse, as the week continued, I began to experience progressively more violent bouts of nausea compounded by a growing lethargy that left me tired most days, even when I had only just gotten out of bed. Even more worrying, I began to notice that every time I would wash, clumps of my hair would fall out.

However, my mourning was eventually interrupted one day, when I was called before the princess. It was at this moment that my story truly began, and it was also the one that set me on the path I now walk. 

Perhaps if Celestia had not done to me what she planned to do at that audience, I would have looked over the many injustices and tyranny that plagued this world and lived out what little remained of my life happy and departed peacefully in my sleep. But, that was not the case, and so I must do what I can to save it.